At The Market
by Pre-Animation Man
Summary: Another Willy and Annika Story
1. Prologue

One day, A Little boy with brown hair, wearing light blue long-slveed cleric shirt with pocket on it, blue shorts, white socks, and black basic loafers shoes, her name is Willy Beamish, has boxes of apples and baskets of eggs. His corn on the cob was picked just this morning. Willy thinks that the milk he is bringing to the market is the best there is. His butter is as fresh as butter can a day he will have at the market!

But what is this? Willy's wagon is stuck in the mud by the riverbank.

Willy can't get to the market. The things in his wagon will get hot in the sun, and that will be theend of them.

Hot milk and eggs will never sell at the market. Apples will never sell if bugs are buzzing on them. And melted butter is just a mess!

Willy is in a bad spot. He sits by his wagon and starts to cry.

There's a little girl with yellow hair with blue headband, a white leaf lace camisole, a light blue long-slveed lace cardigan with white collar, a sky blue ribbon frill skirt, and light blue lacy sandals with bow, her name is Annika Settigren, is walking up the riverbank. He has lots of fat fish to sell, but he has no way to get to the market. That is why Annika has started to cry.

Annika bumps into Willy. "What's this?" Annika asks. "You have a wagon and you can get to the market. Why are you crying?"

"My wagon is stuck in the mud" Willy tells Annika. "But if you will help me with it, Til I give you a lift to the market. Then you can sell your fish."

Annika is glad to lend a hand. "I'll try my best to help," he tells Willy.

Willy gets into the wagon and starts it. Annika huffs and puffs.

At last Willy's wagon is on its way to the market. But Annika is still in the thick black mud.

Willy parks his wagon on a dry spot on the riverbank. Then he walks back to get Annika.

Willy gives the sister a hand. He tugs and slips, he splashes and trips, and then he lands flat in the mud.

When the men stand up, they are a mess.

"Where can we get a bath?" Willy asks.

"The river is the best spot for that," says Annika. "I'll jump in if you will." Then he and Willy jump in with a splash.

There is Willy's wagon, on its way at last. the two kids are still a bit wet, but hey will be dry when they get to the market.

Willy thanks Annika for his help. "There are no bugs on my apples," he tells the sister, "and my butter didn't melt after all. This may be the best market day I've ever had."

"Thanks to you and your wagon," says Annika, "I will get to sell my are still as fresh as can be."

As Willy's wagon bumps on under the hot sun, he think of the fun they will have at the market. They are glad that they met on the riverbank.


	2. Selling Sandboxes

It's the end of the day. Annika is selling his last fish, and Willy is scrubbing up his market stand. It must never be left in a mess!

"Did you sell all the things you had?" Annika asks.

"Yes I did" Willy tells him. "I kept a bit of milk for us to drink at dinner, but that's all I have left. When I have finished scrubbing my stand, I can have a sandwich."

This is what Annika has to say as he and Willy fix sandwiches for dinner.

"I'm always hunting for more things to sell at the market. I was thinking of selling sandboxes. But I have to spend more for the sand to fill the boxes than I can get for them at the market. It's sad to have no way to sell sandboxes. Whenever I think of it I want to cry." Sniffing a bit, Annika helps himself to the mustard.

Willy has started to think. He thinks and thinks, and then he jumps up faster than a jack-in-the-box. He drops his fork and starts to yell, "I have it, Annika," says Willy. "l can tell you where here is lots of sand. It's on the river-bank. I can bring the sand to the market in my truck, and you'll never have to spend a thing for it. Why Annika, you'll be rich!"

Annika jumps up and drops the mustard. He starts to skip and hop as he says "That's it, Willy! You get the sand at the riverbank. Bring it back to the market, and I'll fix the boxes.

"But let's not say that I can sell lots of sandboxes. Let's say that we can sell them. Not just you, not just I, but we will get rich. That's the way it will be."

The next morning Willy rushes to the riverbank and fills his truck with sand. Then he brings the sand back to the market.

Annika fills all his boxes and sets them in the middle of his stand.

First a girl visits Pinny's stand. She wants a sandbox, but Annika asks more for his boxes than she can spend. She walks away, and Annika is sad.

Next a man stops by the stand. He wants a red sandbox. But all Annika's sandboxes are tan. When the man walks away with no sandbox, Annika wants to cry.

Willy's peppers and radishes are selling an egg is left in his baskets. But Annika can't sell a sandbox, try as he may.

At lunch Annika asks Willy, "Why can't I sell my sandboxes? What's the matter with them?"

"Well," says Willy, "it may not be the sandbox after all. It may be you. Annika. You have egg on your shirt and jam on your chin today. You have dirt on your hands and dust on your hat. That may be why more men didn't stop at your stand."

"But that's not all. A girl did stop, and she wanted a sandbox. But she didn't want to spend what you asked. Why not fix smaller sandboxes and sell them for less? That's better than selling no boxes, isn't it?

"And that's still not all. When a man says he wants a red sandbox, you can fix it for him. But you didn't think of that, did you? You let the man walk away with no sandbox at all. Is that the best way to sell things?"

"No it's not," Annika says. "I must say that I just wasn't thinking. But if I act fast, I can sell lots of sandboxes after lunch."

After lunch a man visits the stand. Annika is all scrubbed and dressed up. There are red boxes in the stand as well as tan. There are small boxes and big boxes. Annika thinks he has all sorts of sandboxes to sell.

What does this man want? Of all things, he wants a pink sandbox!

Annika has no pink sandboxes. But he thinks of what Willy had to say at lunch.

"TII have a pink sandbox for you in the morning" Annika says.

"I'm glad I can have it as fast as that" says the man. "TII be back in the morning to pick it up."

At last Annika can say that he is selling sandboxes. He wants to hug and cheering Willy. Annika has never felt better!

Annika sells and sells until at last he has no sand-boxes left. He will have to fix more of them as fast as he can. Just as Annika starts hammering on a sandbox, a girl with red curly pigtails, wearing a brown basic tank top, with a gray short coat with lace, a red slimfit capri jeans, and black mary janes with white ribbons, stops by and says, "I can fix better sandboxes than that with my left hand."

"I'll bet you can't" Annika snorts.

"I am called Miss Boxhammer" says the girl. "Why not give me that hammer and let me try?" With that she grabs the hammer. As quick as a wink, she has finished a sandbox.

Miss Boxhammer can fix sandboxes faster than Annika and better than Willy. The men give her a job in the shop. "With Miss Boxhammer's help" Annika thinks "I can sell more sandboxes than ever. We may all be rich yet."


	3. Annika Catching Fish

With Willy and Miss Boxhammer to run the stand sat the market, Annika is left to think of more things to sell. This is what he does best of all.

Annika is thinking of ducks. "There are lots of big fat ducks on father's pond" he says to himself. "If he will sell me ten ducks, I can sell them for more at the market."

Annika's son has a brown different hair, wearing light brown casual V-neck T-shirt, a brown shorts, and a black classic trainers shoes, her name was Tommy Settigren, walking and speak to Annika.

"I will sell you ten ducks" Willy tells Annika, "but you will have to catch them yourself. I must get back to the barnyard."

Then the sister says, "Just catch that big duck first. Sit with him on the bank. He will quack and call the smaller ducks. When they swim up to you, just pick the ducks you want and drop them into your bags. That's all there is to it."

Annika thanks Tommy. Then he starts trying to catch the big duck.

But Annika can't catch father's ducks. They swim faster than fish. As for catching the big duck first, Annika can't catch him at all.

At last Annika gives up. He begins to think that the farmer has tricked him.

It is dark when Annika gets back to the market. Miss Boxhammer gets him a glass of milk, and he tells her what happened to him at the pond.

"That farmer is a bad man" Annika says. "First he sells me ten ducks. Then he tells me to catch them! Why, HI bet that farmer can't catch the ducks himself. I was tricked, and that's all there is to it."

"let's not say that the farmer is a bad man" Miss Boxhammer tells Annika. "I think he just wanted to have fun with you. But there's away to have fun with the farmer and catch the ducks as well."

Then Miss Boxhammer tells Annika her plan.

It's the next morning. The sun is not up yet. Annika's son is still in bed. But Annika and Miss Boxhammer are up, and there they are at the duck pond.

What is that in Miss Boxhammer's hand? I think it's a duck trap.

And what can Annika have in that big bag? I think it must be corn.

Yes, that's It. Miss Boxhammer sets the trap onthe bank by the pond, and Annika fills it with corn. Then he drops more corn on the bank. Annika is fixing a path of corn, and the path ends at the duck trap!

Can you tell what Annika and Miss Boxhammer think will happen next?

When the big duck quacks his first quack of the day, Annika and Miss Boxhammer are hidden in the tall grass.

The big duck spots the corn on the bank. He starts to peck it up as fast as he can. This is the best corn he has ever had! Quack, quack! He calls the rest of the ducks, and they rush to the picnic.

The ducks are snapping up corn and walking up the path to the trap. When will a duck step into the trap?

At last the big duck walks into the trap. The smaller ducks rush in after him. Quack, quack, quack! There is lots of corn in the trap.

Annika jumps up and shuts the trap. There are ten fat ducks in it. Best of all, the big duck is in there with them.

Huffing and puffing, Tommy rushes to the duck pond. There Annika sits on the bank, next to his bags of ducks.

"I want to thank you" says Annika, "for telling me the way to catch ducks. I did catch the big duck first, and he did call the smaller ducks. Then I picked the ducks I wanted, and dropped them into my bags."

Annika gives Miss Boxhammer a big wink. Then he adds, "That's just the way it happened, thanks to Miss Boxhammer."

"Well," Tommy says at last, "I'm glad that you have the ducks you wanted. I was planning to bring them to you today, but I wanted to have fun with you yesterday."

Then his son winks at Annika. "I had fun tricking you and you had fun with me. I'll let you have a bag of corn for your ducks, and you can tell me what you did to catch them. But first let's all have ham and eggs in my kitchen."

And that is just what they did.


	4. Tommy's Fish Fry

Tommy is planning to have a big fish fry at his farm. "Til have to have a lot of fish" he thinks, "but I just can't spend all day fishing. I'll stop by the market and ask Annika the fisher man to catch the fish for me."

But Annika has hung his fishing rod up in the back of his stand. "No more fishing for me" he tells the farmer. "I have to spend my days selling things."

When the farmer walks away to hunt for a fisherman, Annika starts to think.

"Why did I say no to Farmer Tommy?" Annika asks himself. "Miss Boxhammer fixed me up a duck trap, didn't she? If I can have a duck trap, can't I have a fish trap? And if I catch lots of fish, can't I sell them at the market? Yes I can!"

With that, Annika runs after Tommy as fast as he can.

"I can sell you all the fish you want" Annika pants. "I have a way to catch them."

Annika tells Miss Boxhammer his plan. "I always wanted to try a fish trap" she says. Then she starts to cut and hammer as fast as she can.

This is Miss Boxhammer's fish trap. There is lots of ham in the back of the trap.

The fish swim in this way to get the ham.

Then the trap shuts. And that's that.

Annika has set the trap on the bottom of the river. He will be back to pick it up when it is filled with fish.

What a lot of fish Annika has! He will sell today's catch to Tommy. Then he will drop the trap back into the river. This way Annika will always have fresh fish to sell, and he will never have to pick up a fishing rod. He can spend all day selling things at the market.

Tommy's fish fry is the best there ever was. There is Miss Boxhammer, just finishing a fat fish. There is Annika, having more corn on the cob. Willy has had six fish. Or is it seven? No matter. He thinks he will have six or seven more.

With Annika to catch his fish, the farmer can have a fish fry whenever he wants. And you can bet that Willy and Miss Boxhammer are glad of that.


	5. Miss Boxhammer's Plan

Miss Boxhammer is thinking as hard as she can. "Willy has his fresh farm things to sell" she says to herself. "Annika has the sandboxes, ducks, and fish. I want to sell things myself. But what can I sell?"

Miss Boxhammer doesn't ask Annika or Willy for help. Whatever she does, she wants to think of it all by herself. That's the way Miss Boxhammer is.

At last Miss Boxhammer thinks of a plan. "That's it" she says. "That's what I can sell! I'll fix them myself and sell them at the stand. And what a lot of fun it will be!" With that, Miss Boxhammer rushes to her shop in back of Annika's stand.

Miss Boxhammer shuts herself up in the shop. What a lot of banging and bumping there is! What thumping and jumping! What can be happening in that shop?

"What is happening, Miss Boxhammer?" yells Willy.

"What are you up to, Miss Boxhammer?" yells Annika.

But Miss Boxhammer doesn't tell them a thing.

A man in a truck brings a big box to the shop. There are lots of smaller boxes with it. All the tags say "For Miss Boxhammer."

Miss Boxhammer will not let Annika or Willy pickup the boxes. She will not say what is in them.

What can Miss Boxhammer be up to?

When Willy and Annika get to the market, they sniff hot dogs frying. They can smell mustard and butter and all the things you want on hot dogs.

This is what Miss Boxhammer was up to. She has started a hot dog stand!

Annika and Willy are having hot dogs when Tommy stops by. He wants to get fresh fish for a picnic.

Miss Boxhammer sells the farmer a hot dog. Then she sells him six more.

At last the farmer says "Never in all my day shave I had better hot dogs, Miss Boxhammer. Will you bring them to my picnic and fry them there for me?"

Miss Boxhammer says yes as quick as a wink.

Willy is on his way to the picnic. He has filled the back of his truck with hay. On top of the haysit Annika and Miss Boxhammer with bags of fish and hot dogs.

The farmer has a band at his picnic. When the band begins to play, the chickens cluck and the ducks quack. The pigs grunt and the lambs baa.

Children swim and splash in the pond. They pick apples and pet the animals. After lunch they will play tag until the sun sets. What can be more fun than a picnic on a farm?

Annika is frying fish as fast as he can. Miss Boxhammer is frying hot dogs. All the children are filling up on hot dogs and asking for more. Miss Boxhammer's hot dogs are the big hit of the day.

By his trap that will be filled with fish by morning. Willy thinks of the apples and corn that he has to sell. Miss Boxhammer thinks of her hot dog stand. And then they all start to sing.

Can you think of a better way to end the day?


	6. Willy's Big Busy

What can be happening at the market? A girl in a red cap tells Annika, "This is the day we pick the man to run things."

"Think the man you want to run then market" the girl says, and fill in this card. Then drop the card in that box. After dinner we will gather up the cards. The man you pick may be the winner.

Annika prints "Willy Beamish" on his card and drops it into the box.

And where is Willy today? He is at his farm fixing his truck. "I'll rush in to the market after dinner" he says to himself. "I can't have Annika or Miss Boxhammer thinking that I am sick."

When Willy gets to the market at last, there is a glad cry. What banging of pots and pans! What yelling and singing!

"Willy" Annika pants, "we have all picked you to run the market."

Willy steps up to give a talk. He thinks of the day Annika helped him with his truck, and of the way Miss Boxhammer helped with the sandboxes. He thinks of the duck trap, the fish trap, and the picnics at Tommy's. A lot has happened, butthis is the biggest thing of all.

'Thank you all for picking me," Willy says at last. "I will try to run the best market there ever was, And you can bet that he will!"

THE END


End file.
